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Kenmore receives 2 Grants totaling $1.8 Million

1/8/2018 2018 starts with news that the Village has been awarded two grants from the Regional Economic Development Council/Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)!The first is an engineering grant for $100,000.This grant will be used to purchase and install flow meters at various locations throughout the Village and to complete an engineering report studying inflow and infiltration of the Village’s system.

The second grant is for Water Quality Improvement and is for $1.7 Million dollars.This funding will allow us to put in sewer linings on our trunk sewers located on the east and west side of Colvin, the east side of Delaware Road, and on the remainder of East Hazeltine.These locations were selected as nearly half of our sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) are located on these streets.Lining these sewers should eliminate these overflows and will significantly improve our sewer system. This grant funding will also be used for manhole rehabilitation.

I should note that both of these grants have a matching component, requiring the Village to contribute towards the costs associated with these grants. So, while it is great news indeed that we’ve been awarded this funding, you should know that these grants do require the Village to chip in, as well. Also, while this funding will definitely help us to address our DEC requirements (and improve our system), the DEC/capital surcharge will remain on your water/sewer bill.The surcharge was implemented to address the additional costs we incurred when we borrowed money to pay for various water and sewer infrastructure projects. As a result, until that loan is repaid, the surcharge will be used towards payment of the interest and principal on that borrowing – costs which are not included in the operating budget for the water and sewer funds.